He fell through the wooden floor.
The air rushed past him.
The upside-down village grew larger.
He reached out, trying to grab a branch, a walkway, anything.
Then someone caught his wrist.
A hand.
Warm.
Familiar.
Jude looked up.
Serena was holding him.
"Got you," she said.
She pulled him onto the wooden walkway.
For a moment, Jude could only stare at her.
"Serena?"
She nodded.
"Are you all right?"
"Where are the others?"
"Here."
Jude turned.
All twelve wives were standing along the walkway.
Susan.
Rose.
Serena.
Layla.
Natalie.
Zoey.
Lucy.
Stella.
Emma.
Grace.
Sophie.
Scarlet.
They looked real.
Their clothes were dusty, their hair untidy, and each had the familiar expression of someone who had been through something they did not understand.
Layla approached him.
"Are you hurt?"
Jude stared at her.
He remembered the reflection.
The silver line.
The woman outside the window.
He stepped backwards.
Layla stopped.
"What happened?"
"Your chest."
